Times Quick Cryptic No 1933 by Mara

An interesting challenge from Mara, with a high number of double definitions and enough anagrams to keep me happy.  I finished the puzzle in 11 minutes, despite finding it difficult to make an initial entrance, which suggests that this was at the easier end of the Rotterometer spectrum, but there are still some chewy bits to deal with.  It will be interesting to see how you all got on.

FOI went to 1d, I can’t remember what was LOI, and I think I have to award COD to one of the many very good DDs.

Across

Big bandages? (9)
STRAPPING – Double definition.
6  Odd parts of champ’s headgear (3)
CAP – Odd letters from ChAmP – cryptics don’t get much easier than this!.
8 Unbeliever elected Castro, say? (7)
INFIDEL – IN (elected) and FIDEL (Castro, for example).  An INFIDEL is someone who rejects a religion, especially Christianity or Islam, hence an unbeliever.
Cool person holds it, never flustered (5)
NERVE – Anagram (flustered) of [NEVER].  A cool person is said to hold their nerve.
10  Bombed fort vanished quickly (4,4,4)
HAND OVER FIST – Anagram (bombed) of [FORT VANISHED].  To make money HAND OVER FIST is to profit steadily and rapidly.
12  People; great threat (6)
MENACE – MEN (people – note, other types of people are available) and ACE (great).
13  Protect two companies, one briefly (6)
COCOON – CO (company) repeated (the clue asks for two of them), and ONe (briefly = drop the last letter).
16  Expert fulfilled (12)
ACCOMPLISHED – Double definition.
19  Canine gripped by condescending orthodontist (5)
DINGO – Hidden (gripped by) in {condescen}DING O{rthodontist}.
20  Cutting bone, crack around it (7)
GASHING – SHIN (bone) with GAG (crack) ‘around it’.
22 Some light fish (3)
RAY – Double definition
23 Wrong ten grades – not close (9)
ESTRANGED – Anagram (wrong) of [TEN GRADES]

Down

Cut fasteners up (4)
SNIP – PINS (fasteners) reversed (up).
Stop part of song (7)
REFRAIN – Double definition.
Fill house (3)
PAD – Another double definition.
Devoted to someone, one has rewritten novel (2,4)
IN LOVE – I (one) and an anagram (rewritten) of [NOVEL].
5 Massive drunk rooming with American (9)
GINORMOUS – Anagram (drunk) of [ROOMING] with US (American).
6 Dog collars on rectors getting itchy, originally (5)
CORGI – Initial letters (originally) of C{ollars} O{n} R{ectors} G{etting} I{tchy}.  CORGI appears for my second blog in a row.
7  Funny person entertaining first of tourists in English city (7)
PRESTON – Anagram (funny) of [PERSON], containing ‘first of’ T{ourist}.  Preston didn’t become a City until 2002, an event that passed me by, becoming England’s 50th city in the 50th year of Her Maj’s reign.
11  Poem’s code is nonsensical rot! (9)
DECOMPOSE – Anagram (is nonsensical) of [POEM’S CODE].
12  Turn nasty before claret served up (7)
MEANDER – MEAN (nasty) and RED (claret) reversed (turned up).
14  First hole (7)
OPENING – Yet another DD, our 6th today.
15  Learner entering boxing contest steps up (6)
FLIGHT – L{earner} inside FIGHT (boxing contest).  The clue could just have easily ended with ‘steps down’.
17  Sweets in aspic, and yucky!
CANDY – hidden word in [aspi}C, AND Y{ucky}.
18  Old French artist, largely upset (4)
AGED – DEGA{s) (French artist) largely (drop the last letter) and upset (reversed).
21  Main safety equipment activated, initially (3)
SEA – first letters (initially) of S{afety} E{quipment} A{ctivated}.  I seem to remember some debate on MAIN meaning ocean or sea last time it appeared in my blog.  It comes natural to me to equate the two.

48 comments on “Times Quick Cryptic No 1933 by Mara”

  1. This must be my slowest QC time ever; I expect to see a lot of low K scores. I don’t know why, but just about every clue was time-consuming (well, not CAP). Not best pleased to see GINORMOUS. 11:27.
  2. ….but recognized possible challenges for less-experienced solvers as I solved. I was a little surprised to see the slangish ginormous in a Times puzzle.

    Time: 8:06.

  3. 7 minutes. I have no objection to GINORMOUS as crosswords would be dull indeed if they avoided slang, and this word has been around since at least the 1940’s.

    Edited at 2021-08-05 05:21 am (UTC)

    1. I was also slightly surprised to see GINORMOUS, but my Chambers lists it as ‘informal’ rather than slang (is there a difference?). It also gives its origin as a combination of gigantic and enormous. It seems to have been in general use for most of my lifetime, so seems perfectly OK to me, and as you say, these puzzles would be less interesting if words like this were not allowed.
      1. ‘Slang’ came from the Shorter Oxford, but evidently Chambers don’t consider it to be, firstly from what you report and secondly that GINORMOUS isn’t in the Chambers Dictionary of Slang which I had taken off the shelf to look up a query from today’s 15×15. It must be a fine point, the deciding line between slang and informal usage and I’ve no idea how one sets about defining it.
  4. Combo of very easy and for me my least favourite DDs and long anagrams meant a par-ish sort of time though bits felt a struggle.

    Liked GINORMOUS

    Thanks Rotter and Mara

  5. Slow, quick, slow on the way to all green in 15. Only five on the first pass but then good progress with the downs until things ground to a halt with GASHING, AGED and SNIP to go. Finally saw the bone was ‘shin’ but then stared blankly at the two four letter clues in the corner. I was fixated on the fasteners being ‘zips’ but couldn’t bring myself to enter ‘spiz’ and saw AGED early but could parse — wrong footed into looking for a French artist whose name was a letter short of meaning ‘upset’ — even though I knew ‘old’ must be up to something. Bunged it in and kicked myself when Rotter explained it to me. Brilliant puzzle and blog to match — thanks all!

    Only 1.3Ks —must be a pb — thanks for the suggestion Kevin!

  6. Decided to do the QC before our visitors get up.

    This QC seemed quite tough to us. We biffed 5D as MONSTROUS but once we had 1A we realised our error and replaced it with GINORMOUS (not a word we would have expected to see in the QC). Following our 5D biff we were convinced that the answer to 10A was going to be a latin phrase…..but we sorted it out in the end. Took us 13 minutes all in all.

    FOI: CAP
    LOI: PAD
    COD: INFIDEL

    Thanks Mara and Rotter

  7. Took 33:01 on the laptop, with 10 of those trying to work out what were OPENING and GASHING (not a present participle I’ve used very often).
    I don’t like too many double definitions: there seemed to be a lot here.
    thanks for the blog
    BW
    Andrew
  8. 23:41, made heavy weather of this. A mid-solve break unfuddled my brain. Main blocker was not seeing the anagrams for HAND OVER FIST or GINORMOUS.

    I think CAP must have been FOI for everyone today. My LOI was ACCOMPLISHED, with ‘accommodated’ and ‘accumulated’ distracting me.

    I also was close to looking up ‘spiz’ as a kind of cut of meat. When I see a word like ‘cut’ I have learnt to try the more obscure definition first, but this time the primary definition was what was needed.

    Too many double defs for me, today.

    COD AGED, pleased to have parsed that one

    Edited at 2021-08-05 06:58 am (UTC)

  9. A DNF for me. I normally do well with Mara puzzles, but not today. Some of the clues were too difficult for me.

    I do not like the word “ginormous”. It seems like a made up word to me, one I have never really considered a “proper” word. However, it was obvious and so in it went.

    21a. SEA – I was able to answer this one, only because I have seen it here before.

    Three unanswered clues, one incorrect answer, and one ruined by a stupid typo.

    1. Thought of you when CANDY went in — but no trip to the store today it seems!
      1. Yes, that was my favourite clue, and one, I am pleased to say, that I answered. But
        alas, you are right; no candy for me today.
  10. I decided to squeeze this in before going shopping. I must have been in the mood because I managed it in a handful of seconds over therotter’s 11 mins and my time was actually shorter than Kevin’s. A one-off to savour.
    I nearly blew it by writing gynormous but stopped to parse it and saw the error of my ways. I thought there were some neat anagrams — I liked HAND OVER FIST. I seemed to see the DDs quickly and enjoyed COCOON and AGED. Thanks to Mara and Rotter. John M.

    Edited at 2021-08-05 08:11 am (UTC)

  11. About 40 mins which was quite quick for me as it included watching most of the early heats of various Olympic cycling events, probably about 25 mins actual QCing. Some easier clues but even if I had concentrated on this it would have kept me thinking hard, and I enjoyed the challenges. HAND OVER FIST resisted surprisingly long, and missed DINGO first time around when it now seems so obvious. The surface on 9A was very smooth although an easy solve.
  12. … doubtful about GINORMOUS but it couldn’t have been anything else, and we do have slang words here. I also think it’s a splendid word in itself. Onomatopoeic too. (Had to look up the spelling of that! Wouldn’t it make a lovely answer to a clue).

    Much enjoyed today, the first time for ages I’ve been able to settle down to do this, thank you Mara and Rotter.

    Diana

  13. FOI cap as others found, LOI ginormous. Twenty-four minutes but was helped on strapping by my husband who was kneading his bread whilst reading over my shoulder. I couldn’t get the answer to this so it would have been a DNF otherwise as it gave me pad and ginormous. Got dingo without seeing the hidden – exclamation mark. Nine on first pass. A bit slow for me but pleased to finish and grateful to husband for blurting out strapping. Did not see the anagram in ginormous. Did not know how to spell it – gynormous? Chose the right spelling by sheer luck. Much here to enjoy. COD infidel. Thanks, Rotter, and Mara. GW.
  14. I think it makes a big difference to solving times if you happen to read the “easy” clues first. I too started with CAP but then struggled and looked for the three letter words.
    Once I had some letters things were much easier although I doubt many people thought of Degas before writing in AGED. I found the anagrams hard and my LOI was DECOMPOSE. Good puzzle.
    12:42 on the clock.
    David
  15. After a couple of sluggish QC days for me this felt like something approaching normality. However I may have been overthinking some of the clues as I spent some time looking for the nonsense type of rot at 11d before DECOMPOSE showed itself and initially wanted to use ‘punner’ for funny person in 7d – the fact that spellcheck doesn’t seem to like it presumably means it’s not a real word and I really was barking up the wrong tree!
    Finished in the SE with a pause over GASHING and AGED, where I was looking at the wrong end of the clue for the definition. Completed in 8.15
    Thanks to Rotter

    Edited at 2021-08-05 02:45 pm (UTC)

  16. PINS was my FOI, followed by INFIDEL and REFRAIN. I made good progress until I was left with an unlikely looking O_C_M_O_E at 11d. I then spotted that I’d typed HANOVERFISTT at 10a and all was revealed. I spotted DEGA(s) en route. 7:21. Thanks Mara and Rotter.
  17. that took me over my target.

    SNIP (SPIZ anyone?), STRAPPING and PAD were my last three, in that order.

    7:22

  18. Finished in 14 minutes with GASHING unparsed. I hesitated for ages over this, firstly because, thicko that I am, I didn’t see shin in the middle of it and secondly because I thought the answer needed “it” to be inside a word that meant “crack “. Which it didn’t.
    Unlike others here, I really like double definitions. I’d take those any day over hiddens which I often seem slow to spot.
    Very much enjoyed the smoothness of the clues today achieved by eg semantic fields as in, for example, dog collars and rectors in 6 down, and by great anagrinds eg vanished in 10 across.
    Thanks, rotter, for the blog and thanks, too, to Mara
  19. I usually do the QC a few days (or even weeks) late so never bother posting here but often read how everyone fared. Today was quick for me, at 12:19 – I’m usually around 20-30 mins and only just entering the home straight whilst Kevin is being presented with his medal. FOI Cap, LOI Snip, COD Cocoon (I just liked it).

    Thank you to Mara and to Rotter. Indeed, thank you to all the bloggers and posters; this blog was my route into the wonderful world of cryptic crosswords as a total beginner some years ago, which has led me to many, many hours of frustration and enjoyment.

  20. 6:16 this morning. Struggled with the longer clues today, compared with earlier in the week, which made all the difference. Not too sure why because all the wordplay seemed perfectly fair for a QC — just another example of the fascination of cryptic puzzles and the mysterious “wavelength effect” we all refer to from time to time.
    COD 1 ac “strapping”. Not difficult when you see it, as ever!
    Thanks to Rotter for the blog and to Mara
  21. Visiting son was convinced 18d was Egad!
    Otherwise he was a great help. Two brains better than one here.
    Pencilled in GINORMOUS faintly. A tricky puzzle I thought at first. FOsI CAP, CORGI, DINGO, INFIDEL.
    Thanks all, esp Rotter.

    Edited at 2021-08-05 11:14 am (UTC)

  22. The thing with DDs is that you either see them very quickly … or you fail at first pass and then develop a mental block over them! That’s how it works with me, anyway.

    I limped my way through this one and am gutted to see that a sub-K opportunity has gone begging. Oh the agony.

    FOI CAP, LOI PAD, COD PRESTON (the “funny person” really sent me off in the wrong direction, very neat!), time 14:22 for 1.25K and a Very Bad Day.

    Many thanks Mara and Rotter.

    Templar

    1. If I ever write “1.25K and a Very Bad Day” it will on the contrary be an exceptional day!
      Cedric
    2. I was hoping to see superlatives describing your Day. I’m sorry you missed out. At 8:30 here – that’s about as small a fraction of a K that I’ve managed. I was helped a little as I’ve just completed today’s 15×15 where its 9dn used a similar device to COCOON. Thanks Rotter and Mara.
  23. Rather like yesterday in that large parts of this went in easily but the remainder proved to be very stubborn. The SE in particular proved very problematic. Also very slow to see the anagram at 5dn followed by a MER at GINORMOUS once I did spot it. All complete and parsed in 23 mins.

    FOI – 6ac CAP
    LOI – 20ac GASHING
    COD – 1ac STRAPPING

    Thanks to Mara and Rotter

  24. Fairly fast for most of this but I slipped into the SCC because my LOI, GASHING, took me three minutes (not that it felt that long). Ended up with 22:14, which, given other people’s comments (and the fact it’s a very rare sub-2K, not to mention a sub-Merlin) I’m quite pleased with. I must admit I did initially have a MER at GINORMOUS, but thinking about it, this was a bit of snobbery really. Yes, it might be a word formed from two others, but there are plenty of other portmanteau words and, let’s face it, GINORMOUS is a very commonly used word, unlike lots of others seen in Crosswordland, such as GASHING. Anyway, overall very enjoyable with COD to PRESTON, so thanks Mara and Rotter.

    Edited at 2021-08-05 11:08 am (UTC)

  25. Well into the SCC here …
    … as for some reason I was not so much not on Mara’s wavelength as not on the same planet. 24 minutes, for my slowest all-correct finish for many a month.

    Not entirely sure why, either, as most of the clues are clear enough when explained by Rotter’s blog. Not sure I like Turn = meander in 12D, but otherwise all seems fine and I shall put it down to an Off Day.

    Many thanks to Rotter for the blog
    Cedric

  26. A pleasing 22 mins for me. Got nothing in the NW to start, so eased down the greasy pole of the right hand side, crawled along the bottom to the left and twisted my way back up until things started to fall in place.

    I didn’t have an issue with “ginormous” — seen much more spurious stuff here than that if I’m being honest. Whilst Preston may be a city I can vouch it’s not the most picturesque place to visit.

    Only one I didn’t parse was 19ac “Dingo” — which I must have looked at numerous times trying to find the hidden word and still didn’t find it.

    FOI — 6ac “Cap”
    LOI — 12ac “Menace”
    COD — 12ac “Menace”

    Thanks as usual!

    1. I have very fond memories of Preston, or at least of the railway station staff. As a student travelling home to North Wales from Edinburgh I got stranded at Preston station on a dark chilly night just before Christmas. I was the only passenger on the platform. I was invited into the station staffroom and passed a pleasant couple of hours with tea, biscuits and banter while I waited for an onward connection. I’m sure it wouldn’t be allowed now!
  27. Another quick solve in 7:19 or 0.6K. You are allowed an off day Kevin. My FOI was SNIP followed by STRAPPING. I was a little slow to pick up on NERVE and I hesitated to fully parse my LOI GASHING before submitting. Thanks all.

    Edited at 2021-08-05 12:09 pm (UTC)

  28. ….and went over target. More of a struggle than I’m used to from Mara.

    FOI CAP
    LOI OPENING
    COD STRAPPING
    TIME 5:18

  29. Having suffered four DNFs in the last six days, and given usually that the most appropriate chronometer to time my QC efforts is a sundial, I was astonished to see that my completion time today – 30 minutes (on the button) – equates to just 2.6K. It’s the first time I have worked out this wonderful metric, as I assumed my calculator wouldn’t have enough digits before the decimal point. Wonders will never cease.

    And, what’s more, I fully parsed just about every clue as I went along. Like jamesd46 above, I struggled to get started (apart from CAP), but gradually picked up speed, building on each new solution. I smiled when CANDY appeared (sorry to hear it’s not on PWs menu today) and also when MENACE turned up (my favourite breakfast cereal bowl has a great picture of Denis and Gnasher charging off to enjoy their day). I dithered a little over HAND OVER FIST, and SNIP took a 3-4 minute alphabet trawl. My LOI was NERVE.

    I will be interested to see how Mrs Random copes with today’s puzzle (I’m quietly confident), but I will have to wait, as she is at her parents’ for the day again.

    Many thanks, as usual, to Mara and therotter.

    1. Well done – and, yes, it is a wonderful metric. It comes with a word of caution though – the nearer you get to it, the more it (usually) moves away – a bit like mist.
    1. Collins dictionary has:

      tibia
      in British English
      (ˈtɪbɪə)
      NOUN
      Word forms: plural tibiae (ˈtɪbɪˌiː) or tibias
      1. Also called: SHINBONE
      the inner and thicker of the two bones of the human leg between the knee and ankle
      Compare fibula

  30. After 20 minutes I was convinced it should be Danger and then didn’t see why and threw in the towel.
    So did not get Meander Accomplished Decompose
    Ran out of steam.
    Thanks all
    John George
  31. Visited relatives yesterday and returned quite late, so decided to leave this until today. Missed out on a sub-20 by a couple of minutes thanks to missing the hidden Dingo (and I had the ‘n’ as well, so no excuses), and a lengthy delay over my last pair: Gashing and Aged. Quite a pdm to finish with. Invariant

Comments are closed.